HARTFORD -- The Board of Regents for Higher Education, which governs four state universities, 12 community colleges and Charter Oak State College, Thursday approved an increase in tuition and fees for the system's nearly 100,000 students. The Board's Finance Committee had previously approved the increase on March 14.

The tuition and fee increases for fiscal year 2014 include: Connecticut state universities' tuition will rise 5.1 percent or $434 for in-state commuters and 4.1 percent of $778 for in-state residential students. Tuition will rise 4.1 percent or $1,251 for out-of-state residential students. Also, Connecticut community colleges' tuition will increase 5.25 percent or $188 for full-time, in-state commuters.

In-state tuition at Charter Oak State College for fiscal year 2014 will increase by $13/credit, to $258/credit. The in-state college fee will increase $9 per semester to $180 per semester.

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"I hope students, their parents and the public understand that this is a difficult decision, and we don't make it lightly," said Lewis J. Robinson, Chairman of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, in a press release. "My colleagues on the Board and I certainly understand why students don't want to pay higher tuition and fees, but we are entrusted with an important fiduciary duty to assure the stability of our system, as well as to support student success. Sometimes, unfortunately, that means we must make some very tough decisions. We will continue to monitor the system office and campus budgets as we move through the fiscal year, and look for cost savings wherever possible. In the meantime, I would like to commend the students who spoke against this proposal over the past few weeks. They were respectful, well-spoken, and represented our colleges and universities admirably."

"We are mindful that any increase in tuition and fees - regardless of the amount - is difficult for our students to absorb in these fiscal times," said Finance Committee Chairman Gary Holloway. "When we originally began discussing the environment in which we would consider a tuition and fee increase, I was concerned we would be forced to consider a double-digit increase. Thankfully, that is not the situation in which we find ourselves. However, we must continue to be innovative in the way in which we provide services to our students, and consider any and all opportunities for cost savings going forward."

Under a policy adopted by the former Board of Governors for Higher Education, institutions must set aside 15 percent of tuition dollars for institutional financial aid purposes. When the tuition increases, so, too, does the amount of financial aid available to students. The state universities remain a relatively good bargain for students in relation to comparable institutions in New England and the Northeast. The Connecticut state universities ranked in the bottom third among the six New England states, New York and New Jersey in terms of tuition and fees through fiscal year 2013. The Connecticut community colleges' tuition and fee levels rank among the bottom third among comparable institutions in the Northeast and among the lowest within New England. In fiscal year 2012, the community colleges ranked second only to Maine in having the lowest total tuition and fees for two-year institutions in New England.